Skateboard handle

ABSTRACT

A handle for removable attachment to a skateboard comprises a handle stem, a handle bar fastened to one end of the stem, and connecting structure secured at the other end of the stem for removably connecting the stem to the front end of a skateboard in upstanding relation thereto, the connecting structure having a base plate with a pair of opposed downwardly facing L-shaped grooves for sliding engagement with the slides of a generally horizontal flat plate member rigidly connected to the lower end of the stem. A fastening clip is connectable to said base plate for holding the stem in connection therewith. Alternative connecting structure may be employed by way of a removable hinge pin and related structure. Bracing strut member may be employed in connection with the handle stem for resisting twisting moments applied by a rider. The connecting structure is provided with a bolt hole pattern adapted to connect to the universal skateboard wheel truck bolt pattern.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to skateboards and in particular to a skateboardhandle bar and stem removably connectable to a standard skateboard usingnovel and unique connecting means and which is quickly connectable anddisconnectable thereto.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In view of the inherent risk involved in the riding of handle-lessskateboards, it is desirable to provide the rider with a structure tograsp while riding. This need is particularly acute for beginners whohave not yet developed the sense of balance required for riding thetypical skateboard.

Past efforts directed at providing handlebar structure are found in U.S.Pat. No. 4,179,134 to Atkinson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,252 to Rue andU.S. Pat. No. 2,330,147 to Rodriguez. Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No.4,064,351 to Bangle for its removable skateboard handle post.

The instant invention provides an improvement over the prior art in itsdisclosure of a novel skateboard handle adapted to be rigidly yetremovably connected to a conventional skateboard. The new configurationdisclosed herein provides greater statical determinacy then heretobeforeshown. A high-strength handle/skateboard interconnection is of theutmost importance due to the extremely high twisting moments created bythe rider applying force to the handlebar while riding. Said twistingmoments are absorbed almost entirely by the handle/skateboard connectionjoint. Should a failure occur at said connection joint, the rider'ssafety would be put greatly at risk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A handle for removable attachment to a skateboard comprises a generallyupright stem portion, a handlebar fastened to the upper end of said stemportion, means for removably connecting said stem to a skateboard, andbracing means associated with said stem portion to resist twistingmoments. In one embodiment, the means for connecting is comprised of aplate having parallel opposed L-shaped grooves, said plate beingconnectable to the standard bolt pattern of a skateboard wheel truck,said handlebar stem having connected at its lower end a generallyhorizontally disposed plate adaptable for sliding engagement with saidopposed grooves to thereby connect said handlebar stem to saidskateboard. A fastening pin is used to connect said handlebar stem tosaid plate.

In an alternative embodiment, removable connection of said handlebarstem to the skateboard is achieved by the connection of a pair of femalehinge members welded in spaced coaxial relation with respect to eachother and an inverted U-shaped bracket connected to the skateboard anequal distance from each of said female hinge pin members. Connectingmeans is associated with the lower end of said stem having a femalehinge pin member connectable between said outer female hinge pin membersin coaxial relation thereto and the connecting means further having arearwardly extending member for connection to said inverted U-shapedbracket. An elongated cylindrical quick-release retaining pin means maybe inserted through said female hinge pin members in telescopingrelation for removably connecting said skateboard handle to askateboard.

Said cylindrical quick-release retaining pin means is comprised of ahollow cylindrical sleeve having disposed therethrough along theelongate axis a pair of resilient strands overlapping each other oneturn, preferably formed of a single strand of wire looped into a U-shapehaving a first end formed into a ring, said ring having a greaterdiameter than the inner diameter of said sleeve, the second end thereofcomprising holding means for preventing said strands and sleeve frombeing removed from within the female hinge member(s) until the ring isgrasped and then simultaneously twisted and pulled thereby overcomingthe frictional engagement of the holding means with the female hingemembers. The retaining pin is installed by manually squeezing togetherthe holding means portion of said pin and inserting said pin through thefemale hinge pin members connected to said base plate and to said handlestem, respectively. Once said retaining pin means is in place, it cannotbe removed except by grasping the looped end thereof and exerting both atwisting and a pulling force thereon which causes the holding means tobe squeezed inwardly thereby being able to fit through the innerdiameter of said hinge pin female members for removal.

It is the primary object of the instant invention to provide a new andunique skateboard handle means for increasing the safety to a skateboardrider.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a skateboardsafety handle means which is easily adaptable to a standard skateboard.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a skateboardsafety handle means which is quickly removable from connection to askateboard so that the bulk of the skateboard/safety handlebar means isbroken down to thereby allow the elements to be stored in such places asa school locker.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a quickrelease skateboard safety handle means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a side elevational view of a skateboard safety handleconnected to a conventional skateboard upper surface.

FIG. 2 shows in exploded relation one embodiment of the presentinvention including lower horizontal stem brace plate, associated baseplate and fastening pin.

FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of FIG. 2 assembled.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention showing a sideelevational view of a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a partially exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows cutaway of the retaining pin means of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows cutaway of the view of FIG. 6 wherein the sleeve andholding means are partially withdrawn.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative configuration of the strand of the retainingpin means.

FIG. 9a is a front view of another embodiment of the handle with asingle tubular configuration.

FIG. 9b is a side view of FIG. of 9a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show an embodiment of theinstant invention comprised of a generally upright skateboard handle 14attached to the upper surface of a conventional skateboard 12 byconnecting means 23. Connecting means may be comprised generally ofmember 25, plate 22 and fastening pin 40. Handle 14 is comprisedpreferably, but not by way of limitation, of a single stem portion atits upper one half having a bifurcated lower end comprised of furcations16 and 18 connected to a lower generally horizontal base plate 22. Baseplate 22 is adapted to slidingly engage a pair of opposed paralleldownwardly facing grooves 26 defined by L-shaped side walls disposed inconnecting member 24. Connecting member 24 is adapted to be rigidlyconnected to the skateboard using the universal skateboard wheel truckbolt pattern arrangement shown by openings 30 adapted to receivefastening means such as bolts (not shown). By using connecting member 24the skateboard 12 need not be modified in any way in order to employ theinstant invention except that the bolts must be removed, member 24placed in position, and the bolts replaced through holes 30 and into thewheel truck.

Fastening pin 40 is used to hold handle 14 and base plate 22 in placeand is positionable through aligned apertures 42 disposed in either sidewall of member 24 and in groove 27 extending across the top of one ofsaid side walls of member 24, as best seen in FIG. 2. The assembledconfiguration shown in FIG. 3 reveals that fastening pin 40, whenconnected through aligned apertures 42 to member 24, is disposedforwardly of furcation 18 so that fastening pin 40 retains handle 14 inplace against any tendency for forward movement in grooves 26 of member24. Rear wall portion 25 retains handle 14 in place against rearwardmovement thereof. The horizontal side walls of grooves 26 retain handle14 in place against side to side movement, thus completing the removablerigid interconnection of handle 14 with skateboard 12. The arrow in FIG.3 points to the front end of skateboard 12.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the instant invention wherebyskateboard handle 14 is connectable to a standard skateboard usingconnecting means 23' which is comprised of a base plate 54, is rigidlyconnectable to a standard skateboard truck bolt pattern as in the firstembodiment set forth above, inverted U-shape bracket 56, a pair ofaligned equally spaced apart female sleeve members 58 and 60 generallyequally spaced apart from bracket 56, said sleeve members 58 and 60spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate connecting sleeve 62therebetween in coaxial alignment and horizontal plate 22'. As best seenin FIG. 5, connecting pin or retaining pin means 70 is to be disposedthrough aligned sleeves 58, 60 and 62 after tongue member 68 of handlelower plate 22' is engaged within inverted U-shaped bracket 56.

It can readily be seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 that the force directed alongarrow F causes a compressive load to be borne by furcation or strut 18which is transferred directly to plate 22 (or 22') which is thereaftertransferred to either pin 40 or sleeves 58, 60 and 62 at the frontbracket 56 at the rear, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and tomember 24 and fastening pin 40 in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 2and 3.

As best seen in FIGS. 5 through 8, retaining means 70, which may be usedto replace any sleeve/pin hinge, is comprised of an outer sleeve shownin FIG. 5 as sleeves 58, 60, and 62, and is further comprised of aninner sleeve 72 having a hollow internal recess wherein is disposed alooped resilient wire strand having a first enlarged end 76 comprised ofa finger engageable loop portion and a second enlarged end comprised ofa pair of outwardly diverging crimped or bent ends 78 to be more fullydescribed below. Strand 74 is a single piece of resilient wire or otherresilient material exhibiting spring-like properties shaped into a 180degree bend, the intermediate portion of the U-shape being first end 76and the terminus ends of the respective straight portions comprisingsecond ends 78. For purposes of this disclosure, the term "enlarged end"is meant to comprise structure having a greater cross sectional diameterthen the inside diameter of sleeve 72 and is contemplated to be shapesother then loops.

End 76 is of an enlarged size so as to be engageable by a finger of anindividual to be pulled and rotated to actuate the quick release featureof retaining pin means 70. Ends 78 comprise a second end of enlargedsize so that it cannot pass through sleeve 72 unless strand 74 issimultaneously pulled and rotated at least a nominal amount causing ends78 to be drawn toward each other decreasing the separation width of ends78 thereby allowing strand 74 to be withdrawn along with sleeve 72 fromsleeves 58, 60 and 62. As best seen in FIG. 6, strand 74 is bent at 80such that the straight portions thereof are caused to overlap in the endclosest to enlarged end 76 and thereafter diverge toward ends 78 therebyimparting a spring-like quality to strand 74/sleeve 72 combinationwherein when strand 74 is disposed within sleeve 72 and ends 78 aresqueezed towards one another, they will generally return to theiroutward enlarged positions shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 by spring action.Strand 74 may be provided with additional bends at 84, best seen in FIG.8, to increase the friction force between ends 78 and sleeve end 79. InFIG. 7 it can be seen that sleeve 72 and strand 74 move together suchthat when same are removed entirely from outer sleeve 70 they remain asone integral unit.

In use, retaining pin means 70 is placed in aligned relation withsleeves 58, 60 and 62 and ends 78 squeezed towards each other and urgedinto the internal recess of sleeve 60 whereafter the entire sleeve72/strand 74 combination can be slid through sleeves 58, 60 and 62 untilenlarged end 76 abuts sleeve 60 and ends 78 emerge from the opposite endof sleeve 58 and expand apart to form a diameter greater than the innerdiameter of sleeve 58. In the above configuration with tongue member 68disposed within inverted U-shaped bracket 56 and retaining pin means 70fastening the front end portion of plate 22' and sleeve 62 to basemember 54, handle 14 is rigidly affixed to the skateboard. When it isdesired to remove handle 14, as for instance where the user arrives atschool or home and desires to store the skateboard and handle in a placewhere the assembled construction will not fit, as for instance, a schoollocker, but the disassembled elements (i.e.: skateboard separated fromhandle 14) will fit, one merely grasps enlarged end 76 and rotates thestrand back and forth while simultaneously pulling away from sleeve 60whereby because of the overlapping relation of the straight portions ofstrand 74 and the shape of terminus ends 78 in relation to sleeve 58,ends 78 are urged inwardly toward each other and thereby are allowed tofit within the inner diameter of sleeves 58, 60 and 62, and strand74/sleeve 72 are pulled out of said sleeves 58, 60 and 62 therebyreleasing sleeve 62 from coaxial alignment with sleeves 58 and 60,whereupon member 68 can be removed from bracket 56 and handle 14separated from member 54 and thereby skateboard 12.

It is readily apparent, as shown in FIG. 8, that sleeves 58, 60 and 62can be condensed into one elongated sleeve 85. As such it can be seenthat retaining pin means 70 confine application almost universallyoutside of the skateboard art. For example, retaining pin means 70 canbe used to secure doors in hinged relation to a structure whereby saiddoor is quickly removable by way of the quick-release retaining pinmeans 70.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what isconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It isrecognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within thescope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A skateboard safety handle means for beinggrasped by a skateboard rider, comprising:generally upright handle stemmeans; base means connectable to the standard bolt pattern of askateboard; intermediate member means for releasable connection of saidupright handle stem means to said base means; removable fastener meansfor releasably connecting said intermediate member means to said basemeans; wherein said intermediate member means is adaptable for slidingengagement within a pair of opposed grooves disposed in said base means,said intermediate member means being rigidly connected to said handlestem, and further comprising fastening pin means releasably connectableto said base means and to said intermediate member means for holdingsaid intermediate member means in positive association with said basemeans; said base means in U-shaped having a pair of opposed generallyL-shaped side wall portions defining said grooves; said grooves beingequally spaced apart and downwardly and inwardly facing; said groovesbeing adaptable to engage said intermediate member means in slidingengagement; said base means also having an intermediate member acting asa rear stop against sliding motion of said intermediate member means;said removable fastener means being a quick-release retaining pin means;said quick-release retaining pin means is comprised of a single strandof resilient metal or plastic having a U-shaped bend, a first legportion of said retaining pin means being positionable through alignedapertures disposed in the respective side wall portions of said U-shapedbase means, a second leg portion of said retaining pin means beingcomprised of an L-shaped member, said L-shaped member having an uppersegment extending generally parallel to the first leg portion and alower base segment extending transversely to and away from a planeformed by said first leg portion and said upper segment; wherein saidupper segment of said retaining pin means is adapted to engage in matingrelation with a corresponding groove disposed in the upper surface ofone of said side wall portions and with said lower base segment of saidL-shaped member engaging an inner surface of said one side wall portionwhen said first leg portion is positioned within said aligned apertures.2. The skateboard safety handle of claim 1, wherein:said groove isoffset from and parallel to a vertical plane extending through thealigned apertures in said side walls.